Have You Got What it Takes?
Forty children aged 11 to 14 from schools in Barnsley and Newham came together at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield on Tuesday 10th of November 2009 to be the first young people in the country to trial a brand new enterprise challenge designed by London 2012’s Education Team. The challenge called ‘Have you got what it takes’ tasked the young people with developing a bid to become an approved pre-Games training camp. Their bid had to demonstrate how their training camp would reflect the Olympic and Paralympic values.
The challenge was an excellent opportunity for getting young people who had not met each other before to work in teams and take on business-related roles such as Project Manager, Budget Officer, Communications Manager or Designer. During the challenge they had to create a mood board, make tough decisions and present in front of a judging panel including Lord Coe who was supporting this showcase enterprise event in Yorkshire. The event was a resounding success as these participants testified:
Jack and Joseph from Holgate School in Barnsley were part of ‘Global Sports Community’, the winning team: “We really enjoyed today, especially the quizzes, putting the mood board together because you had to use creative skills for that part, and of course winning the challenge!”
Nick Handley, a PE Teacher from Priory School and Sports College in Barnsley said he was delighted to take part in the event because, “it’s giving the children the opportunity to take part in an exciting task and it helps promote the Games and our involvement here in the North. As a teacher I will be taking the ideas back to the school and will carry on promoting and using the resources available.
Erin Munns, Head of Education at London 2012 said: “I was delighted to see every single one of the students rise to the challenge. The ‘Have you got what it takes?’ challenge develops a range of key enterprise skills and capabilities in the young people including team work, leadership, risk taking, problem solving and decision making. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their presentation skills and ability to respond to questions when under pressure.”
Suzy Alderson, Executive Director of the Young People’s Enterprise Forum, said: “The Games are a superb catalyst to promote enterprise amongst young people here in Yorkshire. Our region has a real strength and tradition of enterprise and we can use the Games and its values in a creative way to promote enterprise skills in our schools and colleges.”
Alan Graver, Secretariat for the SEE for the 2012 Games Network in Yorkshire, said: “It was fantastic to see all the young people working together so quickly and effectively. They embraced the enterprise challenge wholeheartedly and demonstrated real talent and imagination in their bids.”
Claire Bench, Head of Enterprise at London 2012 explains: “There’s lots of ways that teachers can link enterprise and London 2012, so I would encourage teachers to go to http://www.london2012.com/getenterprising to find out more. Once registered on Get Set they can access some great resources and use them to deliver ‘Have you got what it takes?’ in their classroom. Once a winning team has been chosen they can also enter our national competition and win some fantastic prizes. These include a tour of the Olympic Park, or even a visit to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne!’
“Also we will be coming to Yorkshire and the Humber again on the 30th of June 2010 to hold a special Get Set communication event. We are running this event in conjunction with BP, who are an official London 2012 sponsor. BP will be running their fantastic Enterprise Trading Game at the event. If you’re keen in bringing a team along to participate in this challenge and you’re an enterprise lead who wants to hear more about the London 2012 enterprise programme please email . We are also planning lots more great resources and content for the website, so watch this space!”
To download a copy of this case study: Case Study - Have You Got What it Takes.pdf
